Is There a Word for That Quiet, Discouraged Feeling? Try Saying It in One Sound Word

Not every disappointment is loud.
Sometimes, we just lower our eyes, sigh on the inside, and quietly give up.

It’s not dramatic — it’s subtle.
A word left unsaid. A moment of silence. A soft emotional dip.

English offers words like “discouraged,” “let down,” or “feeling blue.”
But what if there were a single word that gently captured that feeling,
from the posture to the pause?

What Is a “Discouraged” Moment?

It’s not a dramatic outburst —
it’s when someone falls silent, lowers their head, and sighs on the inside.

In anime and manga, this happens when:

• a character gets gently rejected or scolded
• someone hoped for praise but didn’t get it
• a plan or wish quietly fails
• a child realizes something can’t be helped

In English, these moments are described with:

• Disheartened – A quiet loss of motivation
• Discouraged – Feeling down after disappointment
• Feeling Blue / Glum – A general low mood
• Sinking Feeling / Let Down – Subtle emotional drop

But none of these fully express the texture, emotion, and rhythm of the moment.

If You Had to Say It in One Word… Try “Shun”

In Japanese, there’s a beautifully simple onomatopoeic word for this quiet kind of disappointment:
shun (しゅん) — the sound and motion of someone silently shrinking from discouragement.

It’s one of the many magical sound-based expressions in Japanese known as onomatopoeia,
where the rhythm and shape of a word match the emotion it expresses.

With “shun,” you don’t need to say you’re disappointed.
The sound is the feeling —
low, soft, and just a little bit sad.

What Does “Shun” Really Mean?

Want to learn more about its pronunciation, nuance, and how it appears in manga, anime, and everyday conversation?

Dive into the following page: